Shirtless Patriot Stares Down Hurricane Florence

posted by RJ Johnson - @rickerthewriter -

Sep 14, 2018

Amid dire warnings from officials about the dangers of Hurricane Florence, one man has ignored all common sense and walked out to a street in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina Friday morning to stare down the powerful storm.

Internet folk hero and Florida resident Lane Pittman, was spotted holding an American flag while headbanging to heavy metal music while the Category 1 storm blew through the area with 85 mph winds.

"YOU ARE WEAK AND SMALL FLORENCE!!!!! FLORIDA MAN IS HERE!!!!!" Pittman wrote on his Facebook post.

Officials say Florence has lost much of its punch as it made landfall Friday morning near the border between North and South Carolina. Up to 500,000 people are without power and the storm has stranded hundreds of people.

This isn't first Pittman's first brush with internet fame. He went viral in 2015 after it was reported Neptune Beach Police issued him a citation for breaching the peace for playing a rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" and Ted Nugent's "Stranglehold" during a July 4 celebration.

He's also stared down hurricanes before. In 2016, a clip of Pittman shirtless, holding the flag, and headbanging to Slayer's "Raining Blood" went viral and was viewed more than 27 million times on Facebook.

“Had a request for some hair action during the ‘cane. I granted it,” he wrote on Facebook at the time.